Grindleford Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • the accuracy of pupils’ writing continues to improve, particularly in upper key stage 2.
• Ensure that a greater proportion of pupils achieve at a greater depth and that they are appropriately and consistently challenged in their lessons.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher is keen to inspire pupils’ love of learning. With other leaders, she has established a broad, balanced and creative curriculum that is taught by subject specialists. Pupils said that they enjoyed their lessons and appreciated the efforts of their teachers.
• Leaders ensure that pupils gain many opportunities to promote their social, spiritual and moral development. On the day of the inspection, pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 were involved in a full day of outdoor learning. This extended their knowledge of local history, geography and science. Pupils have opportunities to visit different places of worship. They learn about cultures and religions that are different to their own. Links with local groups, including the church, are strong and pupils enthusiastically embrace opportunities to raise funds to support local charities. Parents said that they valued the school. They liked that it is in ‘the heart of the community’. They said they felt their child benefited from attending such a school.
• Appropriate performance management is in place. Staff are keen to improve their skills. Every effort is made to ensure that members of staff receive the training they need to become still more effective. There are valuable links with other local schools. For example, staff have worked with a local school cluster to improve the accuracy of assessment across key stages 1 and 2. The accuracy of assessment has subsequently improved.
• The PE and sport premium for primary schools has been used well to provide additional activities for pupils, as well as training and support for staff. A full range of activities are accessed by pupils, as are clubs and teams. Residential occasions further enhance pupils’ experiences. All pupils who responded to Ofsted’s online survey said that they believed that their school encourages them to look after their physical health.
• Leaders have a good understanding of the progress that pupils in each class make. Pupils are known well by leaders and by teachers. Teachers are held to account for underachievement to ensure that pupils achieve as they should. Leaders are aware of the need to improve the progress of the most able pupils.
• The local authority adviser has been effective in supporting leaders’ strategic planning. Leaders have an accurate view of the strengths of the school and the areas that need to improve further. They use this to set their priorities in the school improvement plan.

Governance of the school

• The governing body is newly established. Governors are highly skilled, keen and committed to ensure that this small community school is a good school.
• Governors undertake regular activity with leaders to check the impact of teachers’ work. For example, close scrutiny of pupils’ writing has been undertaken, to check that teachers’ actions are having the impact needed. The quality of pupils’ writing, particularly in key stage 1 and lower key stage 2, is improving.
• There are significant budget challenges for the school. Governors are showing effective leadership in the management of this and related issues.
• Governors have a good understanding of many of the strengths and the areas that need to improve further.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders and all staff know pupils and their families extremely well. Parents said that they valued the ability to approach teachers if they have a concern or a problem relating to their child. They said that any issues were dealt with promptly and appropriately. One parent said that their child was ‘positively thriving’ within this school community.
• Safeguarding training is regular and is attended by all staff and governors. Appropriate checks are made when staff are recruited to the school and records are appropriately kept by the school business manager.
• The most vulnerable pupils receive a great deal of care and timely support, including external help where needed. Pupils often make progress as a result of this high-quality support.
• The safeguarding policy is well understood by all staff and is appropriate. All pupils that the inspector spoke with, and those who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, said that they felt safe in school. All said that they felt valued by their teachers and had many people to whom they could turn if they needed help. They particularly appreciated the quiet spaces provided within school that they could go to if they needed a little ‘time out’.
• Safeguarding arrangements within the early years are effective. Statutory welfare requirements are met.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers ensure that pupils have many opportunities to develop their writing across a range of subjects. In the early years, pupils work on a variety of activities to develop their fine motor skills, spell simple words and write basic sentences. Inspectors observed children confidently writing a letter and addressing the envelope to a farmer in the story they had just read. Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 write for a variety of audiences and in a variety of contexts. Pupils have opportunities to write independently and at length. At times, pupils’ writing in upper key stage 2 is not precise or accurate enough.
• Pupils are taught a full range of subjects by teachers who are subject specialists and have strong subject knowledge. For example, they relish the opportunity to develop their information and communication technology skills, including coding. They apply this learning to produce work of quality, including filmmaking, blogs and formal presentations. In Spanish, they build the confidence to speak in a language different to their own. They are familiar with the language of grammar and how it is used in different languages. Pupils said that they attended a ‘nice school where they have the chance to learn a lot of things!’
• Teachers use a variety of approaches to spark pupils’ interests. In class 1, pupils enjoyed developing their knowledge of adjectives and conjunctions by investigating a selection of toy dinosaurs. In class 2, pupils were enthusiastically ‘clapping out’ the rhythms of their own haiku poetry. In class 3, pupils returned from their outdoor learning day, full of enthusiasm about their knowledge of local history and the nature within the local landscape.
• Phonics skills are taught well. Adults model phonemes and they check carefully that individual pupils are blending and segmenting accurately. Teachers and teaching assistants work successfully to ensure that pupils who may fall behind gain the help needed to catch up.
• Teaching assistants are highly effective in their role. They have good subject knowledge and are able to provide clear explanations that help pupils to work increasingly independently. The pupils they support make accelerated progress as a result of their high-quality work.
• The vast majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, believe that their child is taught well and that they receive appropriate homework.
• Pupils’ writing in key stage 2 is often imaginative. Pupils know how to create the atmosphere or effect they want by choosing carefully the vocabulary they use. However, on occasions, careless mistakes, particularly in spelling, mar their work.
• Pupils are curious and keen to learn. At times, opportunities are missed in lessons to deepen their knowledge and understanding further, including in the early years. For example, in mathematics, pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop their problem-solving skills. In the early years, adults do not always set work that is sufficiently challenging to ensure that children make consistently good progress, particularly when they are learning outdoors.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• Personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders ensure that pupils take part in a vast range of activities, within school and outdoors, to broaden their experiences. They learn to be part of a team, stay safe in unusual situations and develop physical confidence. Parents commented that this is a particularly strong feature of the school.
• Pupils appreciate the many ways in which they are taught to keep themselves safe and healthy. This includes advice as to how to eat healthily. The school cook helps to put this learning into practice by ensuring healthy food for pupils to enjoy. Pupils were keen to inform the inspector of the ways in which they are taught to keep safe online. They said they appreciated this and that it had made them more aware of the dangers they could face now and in the future.
• Pupils said that bullying ‘just didn’t happen’. They said that any ‘falling out’ would be dealt with quickly by their teachers but, again, the incidences of this were rare. Behaviour logs indicate that any issues are dealt with appropriately.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are respectful of their teachers and of each other. Older pupils take great pride in looking after younger children. They are positive role models. Around school, pupils are polite they greet each other sensibly and happily. They are curious and keen to welcome visitors.
• Pupils value their school. Current pupils’ attendance is above the national average. Many said that they ‘loved coming to school’.
• Pupils confidently work together in lessons. They cooperate with and help each other. They are unafraid to answer teachers’ questions or voice their opinions or ideas in front of their peers. Many are self-assured learners.
• Teachers creatively ensure that pupils’ work is celebrated and rewarded. In classrooms, displays of pupils’ achievement are evident. Pupils regularly receive rewards to commend the quality of their work. Pupils greatly appreciate the recognition and celebration of their achievements.
• On occasion, when pupils are not challenged as they could be by the activities they have been set, they lose their focus and this leads to silliness. This slows the pace of learning.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Children’s attainment in the early years improved in 2017. Further improvement is evident in literacy and mathematics. Leaders’ assessment information indicates that a greater proportion of children will achieve a good level of development in 2018.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in phonics increased in 2017 and met the national average. Leaders’ information, and pupils’ work, indicate that pupils are currently showing better phonics skills than in the past.
• In 2017, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard, or higher, in mathematics at the end of key stage 1 was greater than the national average. Attainment in writing was in line with the national average. Leaders’ information, the high-quality of work in pupils’ books and evidence within lessons indicate that current pupils’ achievement is continuing to improve.
• In 2017, pupils in key stages 1 and 2 made average progress. A greater proportion of current pupils are making better progress than this. Leaders said that teachers have a better understanding of the new curriculum; consequently, the quality of their teaching has improved and pupils are making better progress. Leaders are aware that the progress of the most able pupils needs to accelerate further. In 2017, not enough pupils attained the higher standards in key stage 1 and in key stage 2 assessments.
• In 2017, the proportion of Year 6 pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined was below the national average.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 112550 Derbyshire 10047867 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 59 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Barbara Kwiecinski Leonie Hill 01433 630528 www.grindlefordprimaryschool.co.uk/ headteacher@grindlefordprimaryschool.co.uk Date of previous inspection 24 February 2015

Information about this school

• This is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. At the time of the inspection, there were no disadvantaged pupils attending the school.
• The number of children within each key stage and in the early years is small.
• Pupils learn within three classes.
• The headteacher is currently undertaking the leadership of the early years. The early years leader is on maternity leave.
• The number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is too low to report on in specific terms as there is a risk of identifying individuals.
• The number of children within the early years is too low to report on as there is a risk of identifying individuals.
• The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed learning in all classes, all of which were seen jointly with the headteacher. During lesson observations, the inspector sampled pupils’ books and talked to pupils in order to evaluate the quality of their learning over time.
• The inspector observed the behaviour of pupils at breaktime and lunchtime and as they moved around the school.
• The inspector, along with the headteacher, scrutinised in detail a range of pupils’ books in a range of subjects. The inspector looked particularly at the quality of pupils’ writing across the school.
• The inspector held a number of meetings with the headteacher, middle leaders, the vice-chair of governors and five members of the governing body. A telephone conversation was held with the headteacher who provides school improvement advice to the school on behalf of the local authority.
• The inspector spoke with pupils in meetings, in lessons and around the school. The inspector met formally with a group of key stage 2 pupils.
• The inspector looked at a wide range of the school’s documentation, including the school’s evaluation of its own performance, data on pupils’ attainment and progress, attendance and behaviour records, safeguarding procedures, minutes of the governing body meetings, and curriculum detail. The inspector also reviewed local authority reports.
• The inspector spoke with a Derby local authority adviser.
• The inspector took account of the 48 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 30 responses to the online questionnaire for pupils.

Inspection team

Jayne Ashman, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector